Story of refugee woman promoted by UNICEF
Azize Şeyho, 24, from Latakia, Syria, told the world how she came to Turkey with her Alzheimer's-suffering grandfather and her big sister, her struggle to become a nurse, and her dream of going back to her country one day through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).The organization, which publicizes stories about children suffering because of Ebola, AIDS, wars and poverty on its website www.unicef.org, featured the story of the Şeyho Family in Latakia and their seventh child Azize, under the title of "Children of Syria."Azize was in her third year at the Tishreen University, studying physics, when the violence in her country intensified. On July 14, 2012, she crossed the Turkish border with her 93-year-old grandfather, who suffers from Alzheimer's, and her big sister. "Turkish officials had to carry my grandfather on their backs as he could not walk," Azize recounted. After crossing the border, they settled in the tent city on their second day in Turkey. Upon their arrival, Azize enrolled in TÖMER's Turkish language courses with the support of UNICEF and began taking lessons in physics at Mustafa Kemal University in Antalya. Currently, she is continuing her education in the Department of Nursing at Mersin University, and expressed her gratitude at every opportunity to everybody who contributes to her education and the Turkish officials who carried her grandfather on their backs. Azize, who lives in the tent city with six siblings and her parents in Hatay province, told Anadolu Agency that she is pleased to share her appreciation and story with the world through UNICEF. Azize said that she gives Arabic lessons to Turkish students and physics and chemistry lessons to Syrians. She said she received her bachelor's degree in physics and is currently continuing her education in nursing, hoping to help sick people one day.According to the data that UNICEF gathered from the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency and The United Nations Refugee Agency, there are 882,644 Syrian children in Turkey.